Facebook, Twitter and Google Reach Hate Speech Deal With Germany

Germany’s vocal push to get Facebook to keep hate speech off the social network has proven to be a success as the company will institute a new removal process that will see the offending comments removed within 24 hours, and they are bringing Twitter and Google on board with them.

“When the limits of free speech are trespassed, when it is about criminal expressions, sedition, incitement to carry out criminal offences that threaten people, such content has to be deleted from the net,” German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement after the agreement was reached.

Hate speech on social media has seen a steady rise in the last year as Germany has been welcoming in an influx of refugees fleeing the Middle East, and now a special team at each company will work to make it easier to report these posts and properly remove them.

Facebook has emphasized that it is still mostly up to users to report hate speech though, as it is the most effective way to discover the posts.

Stephen founded German Pulse and LGBT Germany out of a passion to introduce Americans to a Germany that goes beyond beer and polka (although with enough beer he has been known to polka it up a bit). He's a coffee addict, lover of wine and good times, a hit in the kitchen and editor of TV commercials. You can follow him on Twitter (@StephenWFuchs) to find out a lot more.